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Recommended Japanese music?
Posted: Nov 17, 2007 in Music
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I've had an interest in Japanese culture for quite awhile now, but it wasn't until fairly recently that I began my quest to discover new Japanese music. One of the groups that I ran across and like quite a bit is electronic / experimental group World's End Girlfriend. The label that they're on, Noble, has some other groups that I've become quite fond of including the lovely Gutevolk and Kazumasa Hashimoto.
Anyone else have in interest in Japanese music? Any recommendations?
Check out Cornelius. Heralded by some as the Beck of Japan, he has released three albums, two of which are irresistibly good: "Fantasma" and "Point" (to be fair, I haven't heard the most recent one).
The Beck comparison isn't really all that accurate -- I think it stems from his tendency to work in a multitude of genres, especially dance music -- but I could definitely see fans of Beck becoming fans of Cornelius too. "Point" is especially good: An amalgam of electronica, rock 'n' roll and pure pop.
Another good Japanese band is the heavy rock band Boris: Pitchfork couldn't seem to stop praising their album "Pink" around this time last year. And then there's always the Boredoms. Too out there for my tastes, but you may like em.
A link to Cornelius' Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/corneliusofficial